Maize South Intermediate School

Visit our school website at www.usd266.com/msis.

Connect with Mrs. LaMunyon at klamunyon@usd266.com or 316-462-8501.

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Maize South Intermediate School is located at 9701 W. 37th St. N. in Wichita.

Happy November!

This month’s Capturing Kids Hearts’ Character Trait is Teamwork. Counselor lessons for 5th and 6th grade will both be exploring the importance of teamwork and working together to achieve a goal.

Our 5th and 6th grade students are ALL doing a great job reaching their goals!

Walk/Jog Club:

5th Grade Leaderboard:

1. Noah Ponce (9.60 miles)

2. Luke Allen (9.15 miles)

3. Brooks Blevins (7.65 miles)

4. Landon Dold (6.75 miles)

5. Reeve Uloho (6.75 miles)

6. Lucy Van Tassell (6.75 miles)

7. Lucas Brewton (5.85 miles)

8. Lorenzo Morales (5.55 miles)

9. Hylinh Ha (4.80 miles)

10. Tinley Area (4.50 miles)

6th Grade Leaderboard:

1. Ian Ramirez (18.30 miles)

2. Sawyer Hutton (16.35 miles)

3. Harper Hoffman (16.35 miles)

4. Rostan B (14.25 miles)

5. Henry DeCou (13.50 miles)

6. Ryah Cahoone (13.20 miles)

7. Anya M (10.20 miles)

8. Carson Nelson (10.05 miles)

9. Reece Birkner (8.85 miles)

10. Nadeen Azzouni (8.10 miles)

Chess Club

5th Grade-

Last month we started our Rubik's Cube and Chess club for the 2nd quarter. If your child has signed up for Rubik's and Chess club but is not in the second quarter, they will attend during the third quarter. During the fourth quarter, we are going to be running different types of tournaments for both chess and Rubik's Cubes!

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. We recognize with the Holidays approaching, it can be a difficult time for students. We are so thankful for our students and families!

Caitlin (6th grade) and Tyler (5th grade)

Food Drive

With the increased needs in our community, we have decided to expand our Mavs Care Closet to serve students across the district. We are currently accepting donations of non-perishable food items and gently used clothing. If you would like to donate you may drop items off in the front office at Maize South Intermediate and Maize South Middle School.

You may also drop off items in the counseling office at MSHS. We appreciate your support! If you have any questions or are in need of assistance you can contact Caitlin Dailey via email at cdailey@usd266.com

Thank you!

Caitlin Dailey

Congratulations to our new gold card members:

Check it out!!

Lessons in the Library:

All MSIS students are learning about the components of our district’s Acceptable Use Policy for technology. Parents sign this as part of summer enrollment, but students need to be aware of expectations when using their school issued account and devices. We have had some great discussions about making wise choices with technology.

WIGS, GRIT, and BEANSTACK:

One of our school’s wildly important goals is to improve reading literacy. While the nuts and bolts of reading are key to literacy, it’s also important that students are able to locate text that interests them and read without getting distracted so they can establish a lifelong love of reading.

In the library this year we are working on GRIT. Every few weeks in library class, students are logging their reading time and any distractions that occur. We are discussing how to cope with distractions and how to be responsible for what we read.

And now, thanks to the generosity of PTO, students are able to track their reading minutes with Beanstack and participate in challenges. Parents should have received an email with information about this program. Students can access the program on their chromebook or personal device. The library will host monthly challenges and award prizes to students who complete the challenges. In addition, our school goal is to read 500,000 minutes by the end of the year. Students are helping decide how we will celebrate when we reach our goal.

We are so excited to have this program as another way to encourage a lifelong love of reading.

If you have any questions about Beanstack or any other library related matter, please email me at krodell@usd266.com.

Kristin Rodell

Maize South Intermediate Library Media Specialist

Here are some tips on how parents can help with reading and math at home:

• Read together daily.

• Choose books that match your child’s reading and interest levels.

• Encourage your child to make predictions about what they think will happen next in the story, summarize key events or ideas, and retell the story in their own words.

• Provide a quiet, comfortable place to read.

• Help your child with words that are unfamiliar.

• Encourage writing, drawing, making a slide, or anything creative to show their understanding

Mrs. Lang and Mrs. Burnett

Math and Reading Interventionists

Yearbooks are now on sale from today through April 6, 2025

All students are expected to attend class every day. Tardies are counted after the bell rings at 7:20 am regardless of reason. At 8:20 the student will be marked as having missed the hour. If your child will be tardy or absent please leave a message on our attendance line by 10 (462-8501 option 1). Per state guidelines and district policy, after 3 consecutive absences, 5 absences within a semester, and 7 absences in a year, your child will be considered unexcused without a note from the doctor.

This means you will still receive an automated phone call from the district, even if you have called the school.

Students should all have lanyards to hold their student IDs. This will help as they are moving through the lines in the cafeteria and media center. We will also be able to start using their ID cards for a-la-carte items. If you will be using your cards for a-la-carte, please make sure you have money in your Skyward Lunch accounts. Lost student IDs can be replaced in the media center. The cost for a replacement ID is $3.

Please be prepared for our inclement weather plan. Students will stand inside the cafeteria and library when it is raining, snowing, icy, or feels like 20 degrees or below. They are able to view cars pull up and receive text messages from families as to when they have arrived. There will also be adults outside with a radio to call in to students if necessary.

As the weather gets colder, it may also be a great reminder for your students to dress warm when we do go outside. We will try to get students out as much as possible.

Medications

The health office now has over the counter stock medications. We have acetaminophen (chewables, liquid and tablets), ibuprofen (chewables, liquid, and tablets), cetirizine (liquid, dissolvable tablets and tablets), benadryl (chewables, liquid, tablets), and tums (chewables). Please see Skyward and complete the Online Form titled 2025 Over the Counter Medication Consent Form. This has to be completed prior to me administering these medications. The health office will ALWAYS call a parent prior to administering these medications to your student.

If your child needs to take prescription medication here at school, please complete this form with the physician’s signature and medication order information.

Illness Policy

As we enter the cold and flu season it’s important to remember that according to the USD 266’s Student Handbook (Section 15.1), all students with a temperature at or above 100 degrees will be sent home. They must be fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications before returning to class.

Missing School for a Doctor’s Appointment?

Make sure if your child is missing school for any sort of doctor’s appointment (well-child check/physical, dentist, sick visit, etc.) that a doctor’s note is provided to account for their absence.

Please feel free to contact me by stopping by my office, calling, or emailing me if you have any questions, concerns, or changes regarding your student. Thank you for taking an interest in your child’s health and well-being!

Hannah Weston, RN, BSN

Phone: 316-462-8506

Fax: 316-462-8502

Email: hweston@usd266.com

Following the procedures below will help our traffic run safely and smoothly each day. A traffic map has been included below for a visual reference. You will see that the parent drop off/pick up traffic drive runs behind the school.

Please note that the traffic drive that runs in front of the school is reserved for buses only! Please do NOT drop off students in front of the building until after the bell rings at 7:20, at which point they will check in through the office and counted tardy.

Thank you for your cooperation.

AM Parent Drop Off Updates:

• Dropping off your student should be executed in a two lane drop off procedure. Once you pass the ECC entrance, you will enter the two lines and pull completely forward as traffic allows.

• An MSIS staff member will be stationed at the front of the drop off zone with a large STOP sign to indicate traffic should stop. An MSIS staff member will be stationed at the back of the drop off zone with a STOP sign to indicate traffic should stop and wait. Those in between the two stop signs should allow their students to exit vehicles to the sidewalk and enter the school.

• Students should only exit vehicles between these two stop signs to maximize the safety of this procedure.

• Once all students who were dropped off within the zone are safely on the sidewalk, the MSIS staff member will lower the STOP sign, indicating that traffic should continue towards 37th street.

• Please be mindful that left hand and right hand lanes will turn the appropriate directions onto 37th street.

• If you arrive after 7:20, please pull up to the front office on the north side of the building. Your child will sign in at the office after this time.

PM Parent Pick Up Updates:

• We will utilize a two lane pick up procedure similar to the morning drop off procedure. This will allow us to get more traffic off of 37th street and pick students up safely.

• We will have cones set up in the 3rd lane. This 3rd lane will not be used throughout the year. We will have staff set up with stop signs at the beginning and end of the lanes to notify cars when it is safe to pull forward.

• Please help us by encouraging your child to look for you and quickly load on the passenger side of the car. Once your student is in your vehicle quickly and safely, wait until you are notified to continue pulling forward.

• Please continue to pull all the way forward closing any gaps between cars when picking up students. Encourage your child to walk forward until the gap closes.

• Please be mindful that left hand and right hand lanes will turn the appropriate directions onto 37th street.

• Please remind your students if they are walking or riding their bikes to enter/exit the front of the building and follow along the sidewalk areas. The safest sidewalk routes are along the front entrance to 37th and then down Tyler. Please do not ride through the parking lot.
  
• Please make sure your child’s bike or backpack is equipped with reflective gear for safety. Sometimes it is hard to see early in the morning.
  
• If they are walking behind the school, please make sure they exit from the main exit on the southwest side, walk to the crosswalk by the ball fields where an adult (counselor) will ensure they cross traffic safely.
  
• Please be aware that the open field between MSIS and MSE is not safe to walk through.

Thank you for your interest in volunteering at Maize South Intermediate! Our school is stronger thanks to the help and support of our community members, and you. Safety is a top priority for our school. Background checks are required and must be completed annually. All visitors moving beyond a school front office and its secure vestibule will also complete a Raptor Visitor Management System screening and a temporary visitor’s self-adhesive name tag printed each time they visit.

District-Paid: Maize Schools do not wish to discourage any potential volunteer from getting involved in our classrooms or attending field trips with our students. Please click here to begin the same background process at no cost to yourself, and Maize USD 266 will pay for your background screening.

Thank you for your continued support of our students and district!